Particularities of a disaster

Abstract

The earth is shaken suddenly and violently for a few seconds, and not only collapses mountains, bridges and buildings, but also dismantles a series of express or tacit covenants of coexistence between individuals and communities; it alters a citizen "normality" that had been achieved after years of managing, consciously or unconsciously, the deaf or overt, violent or latent conflicts that constitute the underlying dynamic that moves all societies; It forces individuals to confront themselves, with their belief systems and values, with a vision of the world that gave them meaning and coherence and that, when they collapse or crack, generates bewilderment, anomie, uprooting. But, at the same time, it forces individuals and communities to draw on their deepest beliefs, on the cultural elements that give them a sense of cohesion, of hope, of common purpose, of belonging.